in tribute to st maximillian mary kolbe

last fri's (aug 14) readings marked the memorial of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr of the catholic faith.

st maximillian mary kolbe was a friar of polish descent. he had a childhood vision of mary appearing to him which he described in the following words "That night, I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both." being involved in militia immaculata, he worked for the conversion of sinners and the enemies of the catholic church through the intercession of the virgin mary. the immaculata friars utilised the most modern printing and administrative techniques in publishing catechetical and devotional tracts, a daily newspaper with a circulation of 230,000 and a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million.

during the second world war, he provided shelter to refugees from poland and was later arrested by the german gestapo (secret state police). in july 1941, a prisoner escaped from the barracks maximillan was housed in, this prompted the deputy camp commander to pick 10 men from his barracks to be singled out for torture to deter future escapes. maximillan volunteered to take the place of a man (married w kids). despite being in chains and three wks to his death sentence, he led them in songs and prayer and even encouraged the men that they will be with mary in heaven, at the same time enduring the torture that was melted out to him. he was then injected with carbolic acid...

more often than not, we (read= me) often balk at our measly lives in comparison to the lives of these saintly people, and wonder how on earth is it like to be martyred for their faith (st maximillan, st mark) to bear wounds of stigmata (st padre pio, st catherine of sienna, st francis of assisi). in conjunction with lay apostolate sun last week, realising that for a fact, a huge number of us arent called to be martyrs, to die for the faith, our vocation as the laity here and now, as much as asking God "what do you want me to do for you in my life" to "what do you want me to do now? in this instance?" having said that, its only lately that i realise that our little steps of 'yes' said and taken in faith will ultimately lead us to what He has in store for us, aka, the grand plan.

i am pretty sure that i wont be martyred for my faith or have carbolic acid injected in my veins but my vocation now is to be Obedient (with a capital O) as a student and to be the best daughter that i can be to my parents, to strive to be a better worshipper and to listen to his still small voice within.

dear lord, help me realise that my vocation here and now is to be obedient. rid me of my wants in order that i may chase after you more fervently. increase in me as i decrease. this i pray, amen